Rare occurrence: Hail stones the size of marbles are shown by a Burgos, Rizal resident.Photo contributed to INQUIRER.net by Tyrone Jay Almendrala
MANILA, Philippines—Residents of a village in Rodriguez, Rizal on Wednesday took a break from the daily scorching sun when a mid-afternoon thunderstorm brought marble-sized hail to their community.
Because of the rare experience, residents reached for their cameras and cell phones and clicked away as the hailstorm coated their ground and roofs in ice for almost 30 minutes.
Tyrone Jay Almendrala, a Burgos resident, said in an e-mail to INQUIRER.net that before it rained ice crystals, the weather from morning until noon was initially hot and warm.
At 2 p.m., Almendrala said thunder clouds began to form. But some 40 minutes after, the rain droplets turned into chunks of ice.
“It felt like a slight pinch every time it hits you,” he said.
Photo contributed to Radyo Inquirer 990 AM by Theresa Redova
To explain the phenomenon, Julie Nimes, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) weather forecaster, told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview that hailstorms usually occur during occasional rains amid a hot summer day.
Nimes said, around 2:45 p.m., Pagasa forecast that a thunderstorm will be experienced in Rodriguez, Rizal, particularly in the municipalities of San Mateo and Cupang.
Before the thunderstorm, which was formed by cumulo-nimbus, or thunder clouds, she said it was preceded by “a really hot weather.”
Since last week, the state weather bureau said the temperature in Luzon reached as high as 38 celsius.
Before the hailstorm, Nimes said the wind in Rodriguez was “warm and light” that it did not scatter the heat evenly to the areas where the rains are expected to hit.
“The heat became steady in one place. The thunder clouds accumulated the moisture and heat altogether,” Nimes said.
RELATED STORIES
Lightning kills 2 in Toledo; Hailstorm in Pinamungajan